starlight, starbright
by CrystalIceLover
Summary: She's the brightest star in the world, so what would she want with someone like her? NextGen. Femmeslash.


**For the Prompts, oh Prompts thread on the Next Gen Fanatics Forum.**

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><p><strong>starlight, starbright<strong>

_Destruction; porcelain; cold; cherry._

_when the hope burns out and the last cinder dies _

_the world's left with only doubts where all you hear are endless lies_

_- Human Destruction ~ Stefanie Zammit  
><em>

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><p>She's always stared up at the stars. In a family obsessed with Quidditch, it's the one thing that makes her stand out. Any of her siblings would take their brooms and try to get a star to notice them, but Kayleen's always been the quietest and shiest of the Wood siblings, so she simply watches from afar.<p>

Besides, she's Kayleen Wood. What kind of star would notice her? No, the star would only look back at her, distant and cold. Sure, she has two famous Quidditch player parents, but she's nothing to stare at, so she'll admire from afar.

Her mind strays towards the brightest star of them all, the one with the ability to outshine the sun. Biting her lip, she sighs deeply. Beautiful, she has to admit, but the star is the most loved of them all and what would they want with her?

So she'll just keep whispering that name that's like music to her ears as she sits at the highest tower of the school.

_"Lucy."_

And minutes later she's there, like she knew that her name was spoken. Kayleen almost suffers a heart attack when she sees her stagger in, but when she notices the dull look in her eyes and the bottle of firewhisky in her hand, she stiffens.

She's drunk, Kayleen notices, and before she really realizes what she's doing, she's grabbed her, pulling the bottle from her hands.

They're on the Astronomy Tower and she's drunk, Kayleen rationalizes it as she holds the Weasley. She doesn't know why Lucy's here, and she's not about to let her fall.

Sitting down awkwardly, with her head resting on her lap, Kayleen watches her carefully, brushing a strand of hair out of her face, fingers brushing porcelain skin as Lucy babbles on and on about her life. She can't help but stare at her cherry lips as they move and wonder why she's in this state in the first place. For a moment, Kayleen is disgusted with her, ready to walk out, because really, no one wants to hear someone go on about how perfect their life is, even if they're drunk. And when she's about to, it's the slurred words that pour out of the half-Asian girl's mouth that persuade her to rethink that. "But I'm not happy. I should be, but I'm not. Why the fuck am I not happy?"

And she proves it to her by yanking down the sleeves of her robes, showing her the bruises and scars she's self-inflicted. Flicking her gaze from her arms to her face, Kayleen reaches out, running her fingers along the scars, unsure of what to say. She had never been good with consoling people, but from the look in Lucy's smouldering eyes, she swallows hard, knowing that she has to say something. "I don't know why you're not happy,"

Glancing away for a moment, she turned back, "But I do know that people love and care about you. To them, your perfect and they wouldn't want to sit here and watch you self-destruct. I know I-" she broke off, staring up at the overcast sky, tense as she waits for a reply.

Her response isn't the vile and cold one she was expecting from the most popular girl in their year. Instead of responding, she simply begins to cry. Sitting up, she grabs on to Kayleen, her head resting on her shoulder. Kayleen can't think, can hardly _breathe_, as she's enveloped by her, before her arms begin to move, rubbing circles on Lucy's back.

She stays there with her to the next day, for she's much too scared to leave her there alone and partly because she's incapable of untangling herself from her.

The next morning, Kayleen finds herself alone. Blinking rapidly, she frowns, but dismisses the issue. Reckoning that Lucy simply got up earlier and left, she pulls herself up, dusting off.

Working her way back to her dorm, she starts when she walks through the portrait into a common room full of people. Pushing her way through the crowd, she finds Alex Caruso sitting in one of the armchairs. Approaching him, she asks, "What happened?"

Looking up at her, his eyes as dark as the night sky, she shifts closer to catch his words, "Lucy Weasley's dead."

Staring at him, she opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Shaking her head, she turns on her heel, running up the stairs to her dorm. Sitting down on her bed, she makes sure to avoid the brunette's bed, but it was like a dead body the way it drew her eyes to it. Putting her hands in her pockets, she pulls them back out, a scrap of parchment in her hand. Staring at it, she unfolds the paper, carefully reading it:

_Maybe now I'll be happy._

It's not signed, but Kayleen knows exactly who it's from. Staring down at, she shoves the note back into her pocket. Lying down on her back, she stares up at the ceiling, unable to cry. But she's comforted, ever so slightly, by the little voice in her head that tells her that all stars die, and that it takes years for anyone to notice. And maybe that's what happened here; the brightest star in the world faded away, but it was only now that anyone noticed how destroyed she'd been.

And though her light no longer shines, Kayleen will continue to love her, because she was the brightest to her, and though she won't see her anytime soon, she sometimes looks up in the night sky, and can't help but smile.

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><p><strong>I hope you liked it! All reviews are welcome, and please don't favourite without <strong>**reviewing. **


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